Hysteria : remote causes of disease in general treatment of disease by tonic agency local or surgical forms of hysteria, etc. six lectures delivered to the students of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, 1866 / by F.C. Skey.

  • Skey, Frederic C. (Frederic Carpenter), 1798-1872.
Date:
1867
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Hysteria : remote causes of disease in general treatment of disease by tonic agency local or surgical forms of hysteria, etc. six lectures delivered to the students of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, 1866 / by F.C. Skey. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    reply indicate more of knowledge or of ignorance ? Snell is our profession among tlie multitude, deny it who can. Now, before I tell you what is right to he done, let me make a remark or two in passing. This lady’s condition is marked by great debility. You will find on inquiry either that she had a “ hard time,” as it is called, that she lost blood largely during the birth of her child, or that subsequently to her confinement she has been the subject of some debilitating cause, such as diarrhoea, loss of food, or fatigue of body or mind, or some other de- pressing influence has drawn largely on her physical strength. It is owing to this depressing influence that she is the subject of this painful disease. Had the ^veakness not existed, she would have escaped milk abscess. You do not find milk abscess or any other form of abscess in a person of vigorous circulation. It is the product of weakness, whether inherent in the constitu- tion or the result of accident. For evidence of the truth of this fact, examine her pulse. Is it firm ? Will it bear the pressure of the finger without stopping it ? Is it moderate in the number of its beats ? Is it at or under 70 ? No ; it is at 80, or 90, or more ; it is weak, and easily compressed by the finger ; it may be large, and full, and rounded, or it may be small; but be it one or the other, it is stopped by slight additional pressure of the finger. Either the blood is deficient in quantity, or the heart fails in power—probably both. And in this condition of the system, with indications of debility perfectly palpable before you, you appeal to the great